an Energetic Life
Colin Maiden – an autobiography
Dunmore Publishing - $37.95

This seems to me to be an especially appropriate title to describe the life of a man who has loomed large and widely on the scene since I moved to Auckland some 30 years ago. For 24 of those years he was the Vice Chancellor of Auckland University, a huge task and one that he carried out with enormous energy over that very long period. This readable account of his distinguished life deals at some length with those university management years as it should but there is much more to them man that just that aspect of his career.

He was born in Auckland in 1933 and after an outstanding academic career first at Auckland Grammar and then at the Auckland University College as it was called in those days was made a Rhodes Scholar in 1955 and set sail for the UK and Exeter College, Oxford on the SS Oronsay.

While at Oxford he married his longtime NZ sweetheart Jennefor Rowe , became a father and was ultimately capped DPhil..
His career in aerophysics engineering then took him to Canada, home briefly to NZ, Santa Barbara and then Michigan.

Eventually in midsummer 1971 he came home having been offered two posts, one as General Manager NZ Steel and the other Vice Chancellor University of Auckland. As already mentioned he chose the latter.

During his university leadership years he also became a professional company director with companies as diverse as NZ Synthetic Fuels, (I found this section of his story fascinating, especially in view of what has happened in recent times to the price of oil), NZ Refining, Transpower, NZ Steel, Fisher & Paykel, Independent Newspapers, Farmers and others including a number of prominent Australian companies. In 2001 he was named Chairperson of the Year in the Deloitte/Management magazine awards. He still holds a number of directorships.
I haven’t mentioned his personal life in this brief review but that has also been full and rewarding. Jennefor remains the love of his life and they have recently celebrated 50 years of marriage.
Finally it would be remiss of me not to mention his love of and great skill in the game of tennis which he has played at high level on courts around the world.
I have not met Sir Colin but I tip my hat to him for a life full of achievement and thank him for sharing it with us in his fine autobiography which includes 16 pages of interesting photographs from both his business and personal lives.